This giant Wall resembles the Vietnam Memorial on the mall in Washington, DC, but instead of remembering the fallen, it reminds us of those outside the reach of the gospel. So for a love offering of $150 (and the cost of shipping the exhibit on to the next location), you can stage a $6000 traveling exhibit at your church, college, or event. Check it out today.

Nation-2-Nation Film studios is pleased to announce that a new community development curriculum on DVD is now available in more than ten major languages. This revolutionary curriculum is designed to help lift communities out of poverty and disease. It combines the cumulative knowledge of doctors, agriculturalists, dentists, and veterinarian experts, who have worked among the world’s poor, and pools that information into a single, practical and easy-to-use curriculum. The series, known as “BOKS” (Building Other Through Knowledge and Service) is being used by missionaries and nationals in over 35 countries. It is currently available in: English, French, Creole, Spanish, Indonesian, Hindi, Cebauno, Tagalog, Mandarin, Swahili, and Hausa and costs $175. For 10% off all DVD products use the promotional code “promoboks10″ at

Not only is it a fun phrase to say (“What’s your map app?”), but in addition, it’s an important question for at least one cross-cultural worker who wrote in to Brigada this past week. What we’re seeking is the ability to make a custom map, like with Google Maps, but with the easy ability to download it onto an iPhone/iPad with zooming capability. So how ’bout it, mapmakers? What are the options for this cross-cultural worker? (Thanks in advance for any help you can give by giving your best advice in the comment box following this question in the web version of Brigada.)

This past week, Mark Snowden told us about a professional storyteller named John Walsh. “He uses a highly interactive procedure in BibleTelling training to involve everyone in a larger group in the action. According to my notes at an ION workshop, John said that after telling the story, he gets them to practice it. He shows them a storyboard that he uses to remember the main scenes. His storyboard is simply a set of cards or posters with simple stick figures depicting the action in the Bible story. John divides the group into pairs and asks them to use his storyboard to retell the story to each other. Then he asks them in larger groups to describe the locations in the story. He retells the story. At that point he divides them into creative art groups. One group develops a drama; another works out a pantomime. A third group creates a song and still another paints pictures of the story. Then he has each group present their production to the whole group. By the time John is finished, his listeners have heard or experienced the story twelve times!” Learn more about Mark and his co-workers at

a new online file storage and backup site. They’re offering 50GB for free, all encrypted at 2048 bit. Apparently, it’s an easy-to-use interface, with an affordable pro version. Some have said it might be the “fastest growing startup in Internet history.” Others have reportedly observed that it’s currently the “busiest NZ URL” and that they already have several hundred thousand users after just days. (Thanks to that anonymous contributor.)

David and his crew there have put together a great collection of resources and services, some of which are free while others are available for a reasonable fee. Get help on everything from trip planning to screening and managing applicants.

The purpose of yesHEis.com is to help you share Jesus online. By gathering the Internet’s best Christian evangelistic media, they are building a resource base to help you share Jesus to almost any type of person, in any situation. They do this by connecting you with a growing community of believers who are confident that the Internet can be a tool for sharing the gospel with more people than some believe were ever previously possible. Check out relevant topics that might help you share your faith, or just see what’s trending this week and you’ll quickly find something that will speak to your family or friends who don’t know Jesus.

Asia’s Center for TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) conducts intensive, five-week courses leading to a TESOL certificate. This certificate is supported by Cornerstone University of Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. For the first three weeks the classes are Monday-Friday, 8-4. For the last two weeks, the classes are 8-12, followed by a two-hour practicum in the afternoon or evening. This totals 120 hours in class and 20 hours of practicum (10 hours observing and 10 hours teaching. The same course is taught in Manila April/May if that is better for your schedule. Contact Melody, infothaiactesolcom for more information, look at or

For years, I’ve relied on the Bota “Outback” Water Filter system. It was lightweight, versatile, and extremely effective. However, this past week, my bottle finally cracked (as they seem to do about every 5 years of regular use) and, lo and behold, I’ve just learned that Bota has gone out of business as of July 2012. So I’m wondering — what’s the best CURRENT system for drinking pure, fresh, healthy water on a mission trip or while traveling cross-culturally? I’ve come across several options, some of which seem promising. Does anyone have personal experience with these (below)? If so, please log on to the web version of this item and use the comment box to give your own review — or a better option, please. Thanks!

Water filter pumps, like the Katadyn Pocket Water Filter that we all used back in the early nineties… or Katadyn MyBottle Water Purifier, the Sawyer Personal Water Bottle Filter, and other filters similar to the Bota “Outback” I’ve been using… or filters that are ultra-violet-light-based (UV light) like the relatively new CamelBak All Clear Water Purifier Bottle and the SteriPEN Adventurer Opti Water Purifier.

You can Google any of these (and others) and learn more about them. The question I have is — which is the best value, the easiest to use, and the most appropriate for the kind of travel that we do, as cross-cultural travelers. My immediate thought would be to lean toward that with which I’m familiar – so replace the Bota with the Katadyn “MyBottle” or something similar. Your thoughts? Thanks for any advice or review you can offer. To respond, please go to the Brigada web version of this item and use the comment boxes below it.

They’re similar apps. Each has an email interface. Once you register with the site, you forward your air and/or car rental itineraries to the email interface and the app automatically parses out your itineraries and details, creating a virtual trip and timeline for you. Granted, there’s a degree of risk involved, in that you’re giving over private information to the grid. However, in all my searching, I couldn’t find one example of this resulting in any kind of mischief. Instead, every review and every testimony seemed to indicate a huge amount of goodwill generated by these programs. Naturally, they’re trying to gather and market aggregate groups of customers, but again, these are well-researched apps that seem to have earned the trust of the internet community at large. The real pay-off comes in the smart-phone apps that these sites offer as well. Lay out your trip on the web, then you instantly have access to it on your iPhone or Android device. And, if TripCase already weren’t gifted enough, check out TripIt. Once I had my rough itinerary set up, I registered the other travelers in my group by providing their email addresses (ask their permission first, of course). Instantly, in their own accounts at TripIt, they now have access to all the flights, connections, and activities as well. You can even set up “meetings,” appointments, and personal activities. Gone are all the days of trying to manually create flights and appointments in your Calendaring app. TripIt can now do it for you, using WebDav features. It’s a new day, … a game-changer, and for the most part, it’s all free (though there are certain premium features you can purchase — like 99 cents to buy out the ads on your iPhone — permanently).

So what are your thoughts? Are you nervous about the possible privacy intrusion? Have you had good luck with these and other similar apps by Kayak and others? What’s your own favorite? Please use the comment box following the web version of this item at Brigada.org. Thanks!

plug in the kinds of calls and texts you’ll likely face on your next international trip. The website then automatically generates predicted costs for all the major international calling cards. Can it be true? … that in the real-live situation, go-Sim would have charged $46, while other cards would have charged over $200 for the same services? If TimeDial is accurate, then it would really pay to scout out the best options ahead of time. Of course, keep in mind that one of the BEST options can sometimes be to buy a LOCAL simcard for your calls, even if they’re international. It pays to check in advance.

Hats off to the Brigada participant from Fort Washington, PA, a above and beyond “True Fan” of Brigada, for sending a $150 gift this past week. By sending this gift, this True Fan helped empower us to send out Brigada to thousands of users to virtually every nation all over the planet. Thank you! If you’d like to join in, just navigate to …

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Last week, I traveled through Haiti with a new friend who happens to be a law enforcement officer. It had been a while since I traveled with anyone quite so aware and in touch. When I commented to him about it, he explained a “threat level awareness color” system that they had taught him at his police academy. You can see a very similar presentation at…

As you can see, the principle behind the color metaphor is that we don’t want to walk around at condition “black” unnecessarily. We’d eventually burn out. But the implication is that we probably SHOULD consider perking up to condition “yellow” a lot more often than we do.

As I watched my friend at work, I realized that I had probably been very lucky in my life (maybe guarded by angels? … and, certainly, the recipient of a lot of prayer). I determined to learn from his example and open my eyes and scan my horizon a lot more often than I ever had before.

As you’ve traveled cross-culturally, have you experienced “condition orange” circumstances? If so, without revealing any sensitive information (feel free to speak anonymously), can you tell us how you reacted, what came down, and what you learned? Just use the comment box following the web version of this item at Brigada.org. Thanks for sharing

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